Is that a nine or a four? A meerkat checks a London Zoo attendant's math during the annual head count of every animal at the zoo.

Photo: Ben Stansall, AFP/Getty Images

Is that a nine or a four? A meerkat checks a London Zoo attendant's...

Is that a nine or a four? A meerkat checks a London Zoo... Photo-3978110.54693 - SFGate

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OH, THANK YOU! Dinner is served at a zoo in Munich.

Photo: Andreas Gebert, AFP/Getty Images

OH, THANK YOU! Dinner is served at a zoo in Munich.

OH, THANK YOU! Dinner is served at a zoo in Munich. Photo-3978109.54693 - SFGate

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It's raining cats and dogs near Rio: At least nine felines huddle with a pooch on a piece of furniture as water rises in a flooded home north of Rio de Janeiro. About 8.5 inches of rain fell in just 24 hours in the mountainous region.

Angels on the shoulder: A school bus traveling from Newtown to Monroe, Conn., stops across from 26 roadside angel signs on the first day of classes for Sandy Hook Elementary School students since the Dec. 14 shooting.

Photo: Jessica Hill, Associated Press

Angels on the shoulder: A school bus traveling from Newtown to...

Angels on the shoulder : A school bus traveling from Newtown to... Photo-3980415.54693 - SFGate

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Greasy kid stuff: Covered in motor oil, a Myanmar boy takes a break during a game using a coconut as a ball in Yangon.

Dip ahead: Flooding from Cyclone Dumile left this pothole in a road linking Saint Louis de la Reunion with Saint Pierre on the French island of La Reunion. The cyclone battered the island with 110-mph winds and torrential rain.

Photo: Richard Bouhet, AFP/Getty Images

Dip ahead: Flooding from Cyclone Dumile left this pothole in a road...

Flat-rate fare: Civilians flee Damara, the last strategic town between rebels and the Central African Republic's capital of Bangui, in a taxi that looks like it couldn't travel 100 yards. The rebels accuse leader Francois Bozize of failing to honor a 2007 peace deal.

Kiss me and I'll turn into a muddy prince: At the London Zoo's annual stocktake, it's sometimes hard to tell where the fingers end and the bullfrog begins.

Photo: Ben Stansall, AFP/Getty Images

Kiss me and I'll turn into a muddy prince: At the London Zoo's...

Kiss me and I'll turn into a muddy prince: At the London... Photo-3978105.54693 - SFGate

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Disembodied head No. 1: An Afghan man sits for a portrait at a refugee camp in Herat.

Photo: Aref Karimi, AFP/Getty Images

Disembodied head No. 1: An Afghan man sits for a portrait at a...

Disembodied head No. 1: An Afghan man sits for a portrait at a... Photo-3976566.54693 - SFGate

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Disembodied head No. 2: A Shiite Muslim woman attends the Arbaeen religious festival in the village of Sanabis, Bahrain. The holiday marks the 40th day after Ashura, commemorating the 7th-century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Imam Hussein.